Cleveland Browns Training Camp Recap: Day 7 - Kizer’s big outing on the eve of scrimmage

Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report - Day 7 (8/3/17)

1. Rain Threat Misses Berea: There was originally some rain in the forecast around Thursday’s practice time. When I was downtown at 4:10 PM, the rain came pouring down with thunder behind it. But when I checked Twitter, there was no mention of rain in Berea -- and then the interactive radar showed that it seemed to have missed the Browns’ practice entirely.

Anyway, the managed days off on the eve of Friday’s scrimmage included WR Kenny Britt, TE Taylor McNamara, LT Joe Thomas, LG Joel Bitonio, OG John Greco, C Austin Reiter, DE Desmond Bryant, CB Joe Haden, and CB Jason McCourty. Assuming nothing is wrong with McNamara, I wonder if a a guy like — fighting to make the roster — wishes he didn’t have a “managed day off.”

2. Kick Return Drills: Near the beginning of practice, the Browns focused on special teams drills, and Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com was there to capture Jabrill Peppers as the first kick return man up:

Jordan Zirm noted that WR Mario Alford was the second guy up in the simulated kick return drills. At punt return, Peppers and WR Corey Coleman were among the players seeing work.

3. Lows of the One-Minute Drills: I’m not sure what the yardage situation was, but the Browns ran some one-minute drills with the offense needing to get into field goal range. The first two series were led by QB Cody Kessler and QB Brock Osweiler, respectively.

Zac Jackson of The Athletic says that Kessler's drive consisted of a short completion, then back-to-back sacks to make it a 4th-and-22, which then only led to an incomplete pass that would've only gotten half the distance anyway.

Osweiler's drive wasn't much better. After two incompletions, he moved the chains with two short passes. But then a couple more incompletions led to the clock expiring with no field goal. This video shows one of Osweiler’s short completions on the drive, although DE Myles Garrett (working with the second-team defense) might have gotten a sack if contact was permitted:

4. Kizer Completes Play of the Day, Leads to FG: When it became QB DeShone Kizer’s turn to lead the one-minute drill, he started with a completion, but then had an incompletion and a dropped pass. Now facing a third down, that’s when he threw a pass that reporters called the play of the day, hitting WR James Wright on a 30-yard strike, leading to the required field goal.

Here is another look at it, tweeted from the Browns’ account:

5. Kizer’s Success at the Goal Line: The success for QB DeShone Kizer didn’t stop with the one-minute drill. The next drill that the Browns moved on to was at the goal line, placing the ball at the three yard line. Kizer’s threw a touchdown pass to RB Isaiah Crowell. He also handed the ball off two times, leading to touchdowns and giving him a 3-of-3 success rate when leading the offense.

The results weren’t as hot for the other quarterbacks, although QB Cody Kessler did throw a touchdown pass. QB Brock Osweiler had his pass attempt broken up, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.

6. Pissed Off Garrett: Everything we’ve seen about DE Myles Garrett has seemed calm, cool, and collected. However, it sounds like after being beaten so many times, fellow rookie OT Roderick Johnson did something that the first overall pick didn’t like:

Let that be a teaching moment for Garrett, who can’t afford to cost his team 15 yards or worse when someone from Pittsburgh tries to get under his skin. Players in general seemed to be irritated, as other skirmishes nearly broke out as practice went on.

7. Lower-Key Players Standing Out: It’s always nice to hear about some of the lesser known players who are standing out, and here’s the list that head coach Hue Jackson gave after practice:

8. Brownies, Part 1: TE David Njoku left practice early after his back flared up. ... WR James Wright also walked off with an athletic trainer. ... DL Jamal Marcus appeared to hurt his leg at the end of practice. ... RB Duke Johnson continues to see some work in the slot. ... The quarterbacks ran sprints at the end of practice. ... 10 more puppies were adopted at practice today, bringing the camp total to 60. ... About 200 members from the Browns Backers group watched practice under the reserved tent. ... Head coach Hue Jackson said to not worry about DE Myles Garrett playing with the second unit today, because “he is a starter.”

9. Brownies, Part 2: In 11-on-11 drills toward the end of practice, QB DeShone Kizer was almost picked by CB Alvin Hill, and then had a pass batted down by DE Carl Nassib. ... QB Brock Osweiler had a nice end to practice, hitting TE J.P. Holtz for a 15-yard touchdown, and then finding WR Corey Coleman for a leaping touchdown grab. ... Kizer then finished things off with a touchdown pass to RB Duke Johnson.

10. Next Up: Friday will be the Orange & Brown Scrimmage at FirstEnergy Stadium. Tickets are free and you can register here. The scrimmage begins at 5:00 PM and will end around 7:00 PM, and will include live tackling. There is a chance for inclement weather, in which case the scrimmage could be cancelled, so please pay attention often to social media.